In this solo podcast, Dr. Anne Truong, an intimate‑health physician and author, walks listeners through a detailed case study of a 65‑year‑old retired man, “David,” who experienced progressive erectile dysfunction (ED). Dr. Truong explains why ED is often a vascular warning sign that precedes heart disease, describing how the tiny penile arteries become occluded before larger vessels. She outlines a comprehensive diagnostic workup—including the SHIM questionnaire, physical exam, and extensive labs that revealed pre‑diabetes, borderline low testosterone, and elevated cholesterol. Dr. Truong identifies David’s blood‑pressure medications (atenolol and hydrochlorothiazide) as contributors to his ED and replaces them with nebivolol and an ARB to improve endothelial function. Lifestyle changes (daily walking, Mediterranean diet, 12‑lb weight loss) are prescribed, along with mechanical therapy (penis pump twice daily) and nitric‑oxide supplementation. A coronary calcium score uncovers early heart disease, prompting aspirin and a higher statin dose. Six weeks later David’s SHIM score improves from 12 to 19, he regains morning erections, and his metabolic markers improve. Dr. Truong hints at future advanced treatments (stem‑cell therapy, Botox, shockwave) and urges men over 40 to seek specialist evaluation rather than self‑medicate. The episode concludes with promotion of her “Get Wood Now” program, a discovery call service, and calls for listener engagement.
This podcast is for you, the modern man. I'm Dr. Anne Truong MD, your host. I'm an intimate health medical doctor and bestselling author of the book Erectile Dysfunction Fix. I'll do a deep dive into sexual health and performance and how it affects men of all ages and backgrounds. So let's get started and be sure to visit my website at sexualhealthformenpodcast.com for more information and resources from the show. See you on the inside.
If you're a man over 40 and this is happening to you, don't Google it, don't ignore it, definitely don't just order pills online because what looks like ED is actually your body screaming 3 different warning signs all at once. Let me walk you through a real case that shows exactly what I mean. I'm Dr. Anne Truong MD, I'm a sexual health medical doctor, and I've treated over 7,000 men with ED. Here's a patient, let's just call him David. He's 65, recently retired, and for the past year and a half, something's been changing. He can still get an erection partially, but he keeps losing it with penetration every time. It's not sudden, it crept up on him slowly. It's not just with his wife, it happened when he's alone as well. The details matters and we'll come back to it. So David's been on blood pressure medication for about 5 years, a water pill called hydrochlorothiazide and a beta blocker called atenolol. He also takes a cholesterol medication. He used to smoke but quit 5 years ago. He's a little overweight but not obese. But carrying a little extra excess weight around the middle. He doesn't exercise much. He drinks socially. Now, here's the thing. David almost didn't bring this up. He came in to see me for ED, but he's very concerned about his relationship with his wife, who is younger than he is. So what the first thing I did, I didn't write a prescription for Viagra for him. I treated the root cause of his problem. And how do we address it? We address it by giving David a questionnaire. It's called the IIEF or SHIM score, S-H-I-M score. It's 5 questions and David scored for 12 out of 25. So that put him at moderate ED category. Then came the physical exam. We checked to find out if he has good pulses in his legs, if he just has signs of neuropathy or nerve damage. And we also check if he has any thyroid problems and see if there's a mass right here and also check for pulses in his carotid as well. And then also check to see if he start to show signs of fat in his chest. And then we also do extensive blood work that look at his testosterone, his prolactin level, his inflammation level, look at his kidneys, look at his liver. And look at his thyroid hormone and especially his total testosterone and free testosterone and his estrogen level. So this is what his blood work shows. Fasting blood sugar is 108. That's kind of pre-diabetic. Hemoglobin A1C is about 5.9%, and that's right on the edge, pre-diabetic. Cholesterol is still elevated despite taking medication. Testosterone level is 310, technically normal, but at the very bottom of the range. So I usually say the total testosterone range is 300 to 900, but if you're 310, you're at the bottom of the barrel anyway. So you're definitely low. Now, none of these numbers alone would set off an alarm, but together they paint a very clear picture. David's ED wasn't just inconvenience, it was his body early warning system. This is key. There's something most guys don't know is that the blood vessels that supply the penis are tiny, about 1 to 2 millimeters wide. So it's like the size of an ant. And the arteries to the heart are 3 to 4 millimeters, so double the size. And the carotid artery, or the artery that goes to the brain, is even bigger. So when a plaque or like a clot start building up in the blood vessel due to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or smoking, even diabetes, which artery do you think get blocked first? The smallest one, the one that are in the penis. That's why ED shows up 3 to 5 years before a heart attack or strokes in most men. It's the canary in the coal mine. It's your check engine light. Your body is literally telling you your pipes are clogging. So this is not the time to take those ED meds because when you take the ED meds, it does not address the blood vessel problem. So it may help you with your erection, but does not address why you have ED. In fact, research shows that a man with ED and no other symptom had the same heart attack risk as the man who already has chest pain with no ED. Let that sink in. And here's what David's case makes even more significant. His blood pressure medication were actually making things worse because the very pill keeping his blood pressure in check were the one also reducing blood flow where he needed the most. Not because the medication are bad, they're effective to control blood pressure, but because there are other options that don't have this type of side effect. So if you take like a thiazide or you take a beta blocker, which is atenolol, it can actually make the ED worse. So what did I have to do for David to address the root cause of his ED? Definitely, I'm not gonna give him a pill because that's not gonna address the cause. Of his ED. So I built a plan with him. Part 1, fix the medication. So I switched David from a beta blocker, from Atenolol, to a newer one called Nebivolol, N-E-B-I-V-O-L-O-L, which actually improved blood vessel function instead of impairing it. And I also swapped his water pill for a different type of blood pressure medication called ARB. So same blood pressure control, just less impact on his erection. Part 2, address the lifestyle. David started walking 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week. He cleaned up his diet, started following the Mediterranean diet. Over 3 months, he lost 12 pounds. And studies show that overweight men losing about 5 to 10% of their body weight can improve erectile function even without any type of ED medication. Part 3: Increase blood flow the right way. And how do you do that? Well, to get things boosted going, I advise him to use a penis pump. Using a penis pump will give negative pressure, which then will bring blood flow to the penis and allow the penis to be engorged with blood give it more oxygen so that way the muscle will again have an erection, so that way he doesn't develop scar tissue or that his penis, uh, will have atrophy. So I recommend that he does the penis pump twice a day and let it stay in the cylinder for 10 minutes. Now check out my other video where I go over in details how to use a penis pump and why. So I recommend that he take the penis pump twice a day, 10 minutes each time, along with taking nitric oxide. Take 2 pills of nitric oxide that you can get at our store at ednomore.com. 1 hour or 30 minutes before he pump and take 2 pills, but you only take 2 pills at one time, not twice a day. So take it mainly in the morning when he pump. And then on top of that, I already talked about improving the diet, right? And then fixing the medication. So then number 4, is investigate the heart because David's ED is a vascular red flag. I recommend that he gets a coronary calcium score test. This is a quick, low radiation CT scan that look at plaques in your heart. David's score came back elevated, so, which confirmed that he had early heart disease. So he was started on an aspirin and his statin dose was increased. So without the ED evaluation and blood work, his heart disease may not have been found for years, possibly not until a heart attack happened. Guess what happened to David 6 weeks later? David came back, his ED score, his SHIM score has improved from 12 to 19, and you can actually see the improvement within 6 weeks. And then more importantly, his blood pressure became better controlled because he lost weight. His blood sugar went down a little bit because he lost weight and he started exercising on a regular basis. And guess what? He also had noticed that he started to have some morning wood as well too. So this is a real case, real ED man that we addressed the root cause. Now, We haven't even started doing the big guns yet, which is using stem cell therapy, using Botox, using the Focus Shockwave. This is just the beginning, but guess what? It's made a big improvement for him. And it worked. He started to have morning erection again. He's starting to lose weight and he's starting to be able to perform with his wife, which is the most important thing for him at this time. So this is not about staff. This is about relationship. This is about love. So if you're a man over 40 and you're experiencing this, even occasionally, please see a sexual health specialist, doctor, get your blood work, find out why you have ED. Sometimes it's just a little tweak that makes a lot of difference. So it's not just about sex. It's about how your body might be telling you something. About your heart. It may even save your life. Remember, ED affects 50% of men over 50 and one of the most common conditions in medicine. And yet most men suffer in silence for years before saying anything. I equate that if you have ED, you go online, try to treat it yourself, it's like trying to treat your own heart attack online. Would you do that? No, don't do that. Go see someone because you can really reverse ED early, the earlier you start. So you wouldn't ignore chest pain, right? So don't ignore ED also. So if this video helped you understand something you didn't before, share with someone who needs to hear. And if you want to learn more about how to fix ED naturally to get functioning again, Book a discovery call with our team and see how we can work together to get you back in the game again, Modern Man. 'Cause just know there are alternatives and that you do not have to live with it and you do not have to live in silence and you are not broken. Book that discovery call right now. Check the link down below or go to renewwithdranne.com. I'll see you in the next episode, Modern Man. Okay, modern men, you are not alone and you don't have to suffer anymore. ED can feel isolating, frustrating, and even defeating. The endless guessing, the quiet shame, the weight of not feeling like yourself—it's exhausting. But here's the truth: you are not broken, you are not alone, and you don't have to figure this out alone anymore. The Get Wood Now Boost program is your step-by-step path to sexual confidence and restoration. No more suffering in silence, no more trial and error, just real solution, real result, and the confidence you deserve. It's time to take back your power on your terms. Let's get this journey started together. Check out the course at getwoodnow.com. I'll see you there.
Thanks for listening to the Sexual Health for Men podcast. If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it on Facebook, Instagram, or wherever you post, and be sure to tag me and let me know why you like this episode and what you'd like to hear in the future. That will help me know what's great for you, and I would love to give give you the most incredible free gift designed to help you improve performance quickly. Go to my website at sexualhealthformenpodcast.com to get the book, The 5 Common Costly Mistakes Men Make When Facing ED. I would appreciate if you subscribe, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen, and just know that you can have sexual vitality for life. I appreciate you. Until next time.
